The Charlotte 49ers women’s volleyball team fought a great battle against unbeaten Missouri Saturday morning but came up on the short end of an epic match (19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 20-25).
In the first of two matches of the day, Charlotte was faced with one of their toughest matches of the season, competing against an unbeaten Missouri team who came into the tournament with confidence. The Niners did not back down to Mizzou, matching them point for point throughout the match.
In the first set, Semen Sen showed she was not afraid of the unbeaten Tigers with an early kill. That kill would prove to be one of the few numbers of kills displayed in the first set by the 49ers. Charlotte quickly fell behind but would not give up as Abreia Epps helped belittle the Missouri lead to just three points (13-10).
The 49ers pulled within three later in the first set with Epps again leading a late surge (20-17), but Missouri closed out a commanding first set (25-19) with four straight points to end it.
In the second set, Sen repeated her early set spark with back-to-back kills to pull the 49ers within one early (5-4). It wasn’t long that Mizzou established dominance conducting and 8-0 run to silence the lady niners giving them a nine point edge (13-4). The 49ers battled back with a 6-0 run of their own with the help of two kills provided by Sen and a put down by Kaylyn Torain forcing Missouri to call for time (19-16). Mizzou would settle down to end the set (25-18).
The Niners showed much determination as they tried to prevent a Missouri sweep. Torain and Anna Henderson started the third frame with back-to-back kills and an ace from Shelby Green to take a 7-6 lead. Epps would continue to show dominance in the match with a couple of kills to keep a steady pace for the lady niners. Missouri had a late push in the third set to force a 49er timeout and it looked as if Missouri was closing in on the sweep (23-19). As play resumed, Charlotte went on a 6-0 run to end the set (25-23). Charlotte hit an impressive 15 kills in the third set with a .333 hitting percentage.
The fourth set was an up and down set as Charlotte aided Missouri with three unforced errors to give them an early lead 4-1. The Niners would eventually collect themselves to take a 13-10 lead with kills from a continued hot Epps. Missouri would go on a 5-0 run to regain the lead. After a brief timeout taken by the niners, they came within one due to a couple of kills from McDonald and Torain. Missouri would end the set and the match winning the next five of six points.
McDonald would put up a career high 17 kills in the losing effort with a consistent Epps adding 12 kills and having a hitting percentage of .385. Sen would contribute nine kills while pouring in a hitting percentage of .368.